Ultra Run to Ellen DeGeneres Ends at Studio Lot

Angel Magnussen has built a name for herself by making blankets for critically ill children. Magnussen, 19, of Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada, has Down syndrome and autism, and has been in and out of hospitals for much of her life.

Because she knows a hospital can be a scary place for a child, she includes a special ingredient in each blanket she makes—love.

Many of the blankets Magnussen makes go to children in palliative care, and her hope is to “wrap sick kids in a warm hug” with each one. Magnussen’s mother, Cheryl Magnussen, estimates that Angel mails out 10 to 14 blankets per week, and their nonprofit, Hugginz By Angel, has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in less than three years.

“We try to make blankets as fast as possible so that when those kids do go to heaven, they go wrapped up with their blanket, and their families all put their love inside that blanket,” Cheryl Magnussen told Runner's World.

Cheryl Magnussen said that one of Angel’s favorite programs is The Ellen DeGeneres Show because it always fills her with excitement and energy. It’s been a dream to have Angel’s idol, Ellen, visit her Port Alberni studio and help her make a blanket. She’s mailed DeGeneres a blanket and a note, but received no response.

When Curtis Hargrove, 26, of Cold Lake, Alberta, heard this, he offered to be Magnussen’s personal courier and run the blanket about 1,500 miles to DeGeneres’ studio in Burbank, California.

A runner all his life, Hargrove began to raise money through running in 2007, after his grandfather was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He ran 34 marathons in 34 days and raised $50,000 for the Terry Fox Foundation.

Hargrove met Magnussen during a run In 2012, where he ran approximately 4,300 miles across Canada and raised more than $200,000 for a children’s hospital.

After storing up some savings, Hargrove quit his job as an oil field worker and set off for California on August 30. His goal was to run 31 miles per day. Hargrove was accompanied by Allen Felker, a videographer whom he didn’t know prior to the trip. Felker, 47, spontaneously offered to take seven weeks off from work to drive a van along Hargrove's route and serve as his support.

When the pair reached roads that were too dangerous for Hargrove to run, they headed inland. Along the way, he visited five schools, including Mendocino College in Ukiah, California, where Hargrove ran 43 miles around a track as part of an eight-hour challenge. Though they were prepared to sleep in their van, hotels along their route offered Hargrove and Felker complimentary rooms upon hearing their story.

Throughout his journey, Hargrove was relatively confident that he would be successful in finding a way to hand Magnussen’s blanket—which was covered in cats, since DeGeneres is a fan—to the talk show host.

“Her team did contact me prior to the start of the run,” Hargrove said. “That’s why we were pretty optimistic.”

Hargrove and his team also drummed up enough interest on social media that the story trended on Facebook over the weekend.

But when Hargrove arrived at DeGeneres’ studio on Sunday, after exactly seven weeks of running, there was no one there to greet him. He had run in on a Sunday at the advice of the Los Angeles Police Department, which provided him with a safe route.

“We didn’t expect [DeGeneres] to be there [on Sunday], we were just hoping that somebody might be there, just so we could tell them about the message,” Hargrove said.

Hargrove returned on Monday, but he only spoke with security personnel. He had been advised to bring the blanket to Gate 9, where all gifts are received, but Hargrove didn’t feel that would be any more effective than when the blanket was mailed, so he held on to it.

Since his arrival in California, Hargrove has not had any direct contact with TheEllen DeGeneres Show's employees, and the show has not responded to Runner’s World’s request for comment.

“I didn’t want to break Angel’s heart and I wanted to help accomplish Angel’s dreams, so I said, ‘We’re going to hold onto the blanket until we can get that into Ellen’s hands,’” Hargrove said.

Though Hargrove was unable to personally hand Magnussen’s blanket to Degeneres before he headed back to Port Alberni on Tuesday, he and the Magnussen family are holding out hope that DeGeneres might still take interest in their story.

“We tried to do something crazy to get her attention,” Hargrove said. “I’ve never heard of anybody running to her studio to deliver something. I thought it would be unique.

“[Even though], it didn’t end up as planned, we still hold our heads high. We raised so much awareness for Angel’s foundation. We gathered tons of support, we got tons of donations, and we got to share her story with people in two countries.”

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